Star Wars Celebration - Day 1

          Day 1 of Star Wars Celebration felt like a Star Wars Appreciation Day over anything else. This made me incredibly happy. I wasn't able to keep up with the livestream today as I had to deal with school all day, but just reading the reactions on Twitter to what today offered fans made me smile. Today seemed like a nice little warm-up to the convention before the big announcements in the next few days, and I feel like it's necessary to have every once in a while. Lucasfilm pulled out an amazing 40th Anniversary panel to start the day in order to show its fans just how much they mean to the company and the future of Star Wars. If it weren't for the fans, we wouldn't even have this amazing convention. By being able to bring out George Lucas and the various actors from both the original trilogy and prequels, they were able to cater to all fans and have fun with the wonderful people who have actually worked on the Star Wars property. This, along with the Carrie Fisher Tribute and John Williams' surprise appearance, made it an amazing panel to sit through. Honestly, I'm not ashamed to say that I cried when George Lucas came on stage because we, as fans, were able to truly show him just how much he meant to us as a whole. The constant love he got from the fans in attendance made me hope that he would see how much he meant to us given how none of this would be possible without his amazing idea of a space opera. All the hate he got for making the prequels was uncalled for at times, and it's understandable to see how hurt he would have been since he is human after all. I can only imagine how he would have felt receiving that criticism, so I'm just happy to see that he did end up attending the panel.  
          From there, it was amazing to see all the amazing interviews the "Star Wars Show" was able to get with all of its hosts, including having George Lucas and Harrison Ford on their stage. I enjoyed the Dave Filoni and Pablo Hidalgo panel, but I ended up stopping my viewing of it since the live stream didn't show some of the concept art they were talking about, so I'll have to watch that somewhere else online that has the concept art up. I was able to see that Cad Bane and Boba Fett clip online, which was incredible! I wouldn't mind seeing a bounty hunters animated series that is willing to go darker than Rebels, but we'll see if they'll go that route. The Ray Park panel was nice to watch because he really is amazing to fans. He goes all out with them and enjoys interacting with them. His lightsaber teaching moment was fun to watch as well as his skit with Warwick Davis. He's one of the more overlooked actors from the films since he's known more for his lightsaber fighting skills than his acting, but I still love watching that guy have fun at Celebration.  

          Probably the most overlooked aspect of Day 1 may be Warwick Davis. He is an incredible host and moderator! His banter, wit, and comedy make for hilarious moments during panels he's on. His fun jokes about Harrison Ford's flying was a moment I'll never forget, and his skit with Ray Park was entertaining to watch. I can't wait to see what else he has in store this weekend, along with the rest of the panels and events.  

Rogue One Speculation

      Much of what I want to speculate about doesn't take into account what we've seen in TV spots, ads, or other material that are not the trailers. I really didn't watch them due to not wanting to know more than what we already do about the plot. Besides the fact that I do not expect most of our heroes to survive, I just want to speculate on what we might see in the movie and what information we might get out of it.

•        First off, I am a massive Star Wars Rebels fan. I know that Rogue One is a few years off from where we currently are, but I would like some tie-ins to the show.  Here's what I would like to see if there is some Rebels easter eggs.
• Commander Sato would be a good choice to have in the movie. It would connect the small fledgling rebels that we see in the show with the bigger band of rebels we've come to know. If it means that Mon Mothma asks him a question with him replying with one line in the entire movie, that would be fine with me. It would be like a small nod to those who are fans of the show.
• I would love to see the Ghost on the big screen! Even if it's just in the background and doesn't fly, I would like to see the ship that served as the home to the Ghost crew. Maybe even a short Spectre call-sign would be nice to hear on the big screen.
• It would also be pretty cool to see a C1-10P astromech droid. In other words, if none of the crew are mentioned or shown, I think seeing Chopper roaming the rebel base would be a nice wink to the fans and could be a safe bet...if he survives the show.
• Now, depending on what happens in Season 4, I wonder if there might be a Fulcrum mention or even an appearance where one Fulcrum is addressing the Erso team. Fulcrum has been mentioned a few times in the new canon aside from the TV show, and it has me wondering if this might actually happen in the movie. It's the least likely to happen, but it would provide an interesting amount of speculation as to how important the role of Fulcrum is or was to the Rebels going forward.
• I really hope Saw Gerrera mentions Ahsoka and Anakin at least once in the movie. That would be really nice to hear. :) 
• At the 46 second mark on one of the Rogue One trailers, there appears to be tall rock formations that make it difficult to fly through. What immediately came to mind was the planet Shantipole, which, if you've been watching Star Wars Rebels, you would know that Shantipole has those very same rock formations that make it a challenge for pilots to navigate. It is also the home of the Mon Calamari mechanic, Quarrie. He is the one responsible for the creation of the B-Wing, which itself is a powerful ship for the Rebellion. This then led me to believe that he was probably the creator for the U-Wing, which would be another nice easter egg for Rebels fans. Why the Erso team would go there, I do not know, but I have to admit that it's a stretch since many other planets could have the same type of rock structures.
• Ok, we know from A New Hope that the data plans were transmitted to Leia's ship before the start of the movie. If this is the case, how does she know to go to Tatooine from the beginning? According to the crawl, she's technically going home, even so far as to telling Vader that she's on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan. I want to see if Bail Organa tells her at the end of Rogue One to go towards Tatooine and find Obi-Wan/Ben Kenobi since R2 should technically know where to go due to his time on Tatooine and the location of Luke's home. 
• Also, why isn't Bail Organa on his way to Tatooine instead of Leia? I've always found this interesting as he was the most likely person to go find Obi-Wan. 
• In terms of more Easter eggs, will we get any mentions of certain docking bays or cell blocks? We know Jyn and her team will make it onto the Death Star for her father, so I want to see if they dock near Docking Bay 327 or even if they get captured and detained. Another interesting idea is if they learn about the trash compactor and happen to tell Leia about it as a means to escape or a warning about the Dianoga.
• Because of who Chirrut is and his faith in the Force, will we go inside any of the Jedi Temples? We know that they have kyber crystals inside, so being able to actually go inside a Jedi Temple on another planet would be pretty fun to watch.
• Lastly, no one can survive. At least, I never thought more than one will have a chance to live. Therefore, is it Vader who ends up killing everyone? Will he come out of it unscathed? That Bacta tank scene is interesting, and even his introduction in A New Hope makes it seem like he's perfectly fine, so I want to see if he makes it out without any damages to his suit.